Wildfire
by xx.just.a.contradiction.xx
Summary: X HOOKbased with added elements of 'Peter Pan' X The story of Rufio and how he came to be the temporary successor of Peter Pan, and leader of the Lost Boys.


**Chapter One:  
The Wildfire's Beginning**

'_Cause I'm a train wreck  
Waiting to happen  
Waiting for someone to come pick me up off the tracks  
A wildfire borne of frustration…'_

RUFIO! RUFIO! RU-FI-OOOOOOHHHHH!!' 

It was with a smirk and a decidedly malicious glint in his brown eyes that fifteen year-old Rufio descended the trunk of the Never-Tree in one graceful slide, his gold blade held aloft and ready to strike off the head of their last captive pirate. The Lost Boys stood around in a sprawled type of semi-circle, cheering his name, and as he brought the blade back ready to strike, Rufio breathed in the heady smell of excitement and adrenalin in the air – intoxicating in its bittersweet way.

'RU-FI-OOOOOOHHHHH!!'

The smirk switched quickly into a cocky grin, and in perfect sync with this change in facial expression he plunged the sword straight through the heart of the pirate, who writhed for a minute before keeling over backwards, dead. Their cries of triumph exploding into the adrenalin-heavy air, the Lost Boys gathered around him, begging him to crow for them. With a lopsided smile he indulged them, gathering in breath and then releasing it in a rush of power and several long, exaggerated notes. And then, leaving them to their ritualistic dancing, singing and general merriment, he scaled the humongous trunk of the Never-Tree and began to climb its limbs, the usual sinking feeling that he always felt beginning to stir in his stomach.

When he reached the top, he settled himself in between the forked branches of his favourite limb and surveyed the afternoon sun as it glimmered down upon the shores of Neverland, warming the sand dunes and highlighting flashes of the mermaids' vibrantly coloured hair as they frolicked in the shallows. With a slight groan, he clung to his stomach as it began to twist and turn: the suppressed emotions of however many years since Pan had left clawing at his insides, desperate to be let out.

He wrestled with himself for a minute before a long, jarring shudder wracked his body, and then he resigned himself to sitting deathly still, knowing that any movement he made would reduce him to tears. He sat, barely breathing, until with a slight jump he was startled by Tinkerbell who landed beside his head on a small branch.

She looked at him for a minute, trying to place the awkward scrunching up of his face and his shallow breathing, before raising one minute eyebrow. 'Are you crying?'

'No!' Rufio said truthfully, in a most indignant manner, 'I don't cry. Besides, what's there to cry about? I just killed _twelve_ pirates!'

Tink smiled wryly.  
'Congratulations Rufio the Pirate-Killer.' He smirked before realising she was mocking him.

Reaching over, he made to flick her off the branch, but acquainted to this usual form of dismissal, she darted out of the way and instead landed gracefully upon his bent right knee, where she sat down and faced him.

'You're so much like Peter in so many ways.' she sighed with a roll of her eyes.

Rufio bristled, scowling.  
'Pan was a coward.'

'Peter knew what he wanted,' she corrected him sadly, stretching out upon her back so that her body was lying flush against his knee cap, her tiny feet dangling off the edge, 'he stayed with Wendy's granddaughter because he loved her.'

'Bah! Love!' Rufio spat, cackling with amusement, 'Love is for cowards.'

'I remember Peter saying that once too,' she said quietly and they both fell into silence, resigning themselves to watching the sun begin to set, bathing them in the brilliant autumn hues of its daily demise.

After a while, it was Rufio who spoke.  
'I wish I could fly, just so I can go and laugh at him in his boring grown-up life…'

'You _can_ fly Rufio, _anyone_ can fly… you just choose not to.'

'It's not _my_ fault my happy thoughts don't work,' he muttered sulkily under his breath, before kicking out his right leg and sending her catapulting through the air from him with the tiniest of screeches.

Fanning her wings out to slow herself down, Tink shook her head sadly.  
'Rufio, you're the only Lost Boy in the history of Neverland who doesn't understand the concept of "happy thoughts"…'

Unable to hear her, Rufio merely slunk deeper into the forked branch of the tree, his face sullen.  
'It's not _my_ fault I don't _have_ any happy thoughts.'

* * *

-x- **_Fifteen years earlier…_**

'The pirates go too far! Tomorrow we shall declare war on them _all_!'

Beside himself with fury, the Indian Chieftain finished his addressing of his people and abruptly turned his back on them, marching back inside his tepee, where a young girl lay sprawled across the lightly packed earth, hysterically crying. His daughter Arum sat beside her, stroking the girl's dishevelled long, ebony braids, and looking absolutely terrified.

The young girl, barely fifteen years old, had been dragged off and raped by one of the pirates who had stormed the encampment – she had been found by one of the braves hours later, lying bruised and battered in the woods, being tended by a few matronly fairies, who had been too tiny to do anything to help her.

He watched her for a moment, his face distorted with anger and helplessness, before wheeling around in fright as the cow-hide entrance to the tepee was inched open and an elderly woman shuffled in, looking from the Chieftain to the girl and back again anxiously.

'What!?' he barked, forcing himself to look away from the hysterical girl.

Startled, the woman flinched, but then spoke tentatively.  
'Great Chieftain we mean no dishonour, we only wish to help.'

His facial expression softening slightly, he sighed and gestured for them to come properly inside. 'Ferae, can you help her?'

The woman looked grave.  
'Physically yes… emotionally, it will take long time.'

His brow knitted with worry, he nodded.  
'I must go and make arrangements for tomorrow, take care of her.'

She curved her lips upward in an attempt at an encouraging smile but failed, and when he'd left the tent, she quickly stopped trying altogether. Instead, she knelt down softly beside the sobbing Vinca and gently placed a withered hand on her grazed, stained cheek. 'Come child…'

Flinching, Vinca shrugged away from both her touch and that of Arum, her sobs catching in her throat. Bringing her slender legs up to her chest, she curled up into a ball and began to rock herself, crying out for her mother.

Wincing at the painful sight, Ferae frowned, wishing she could bring the child's mother to her: wishing the woman had not long since perished from a bout of measles passed on by the hated pirate population, whose numbers increased year by year.

Reaching into the small pouch of herbs she carried with her at all times, she pulled out pinches at a time of various roots and plants and placed them in a small bowl Arum handed her. Crushing them with her fingers, she poured a little water in and handed it back to the Indian princess, before turning her attentions back to Vinca, who still lay sobbing wretchedly on the ground.

'Come child, you must drink…' she whispered gently, placing one hand under the girl's head and attempting to make her sip the herbal mixture.

Vinca, still terrified – frightened to the point of insanity – refused and instead began to struggle wildly, her scratched and bruised limbs flailing wildly. Ferae sighed and motioned to Arum to help her, and together they pinned the girl's limbs to the ground just long enough the pour the mixture down the struggling girl's throat.

She coughed and spluttered violently for a moment, before resuming her crying with a hiccough, her sobs reducing slightly.

Arum looked at Ferae, her face crumpling up as she tried not to cry. The older woman reached over and gently patted her arm before struggling to her withered feet, clutching the side of the tepee for support.

'You must stay with her until she sleeps – I will be back soon.'

Arum nodded bravely, the tears spilling out of her large brown eyes and onto her copper cheeks. Sniffing, she smiled a watery smile that lasted only until the elderly lady shuffled out of the tent, before leaning over and resuming the stroking of her friend's hair, her slender hands shaking wildly.

Within minutes, Vinca's sobs slowed to a stop and she fell into a sleep, uneasy at first but then gradually deeper, her breathing becoming more and more steady.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

'Argh!'

Struck suddenly by a violent flash of pain that ripped through her abdomen and lower stomach, Vinca clasped her arms around her swollen belly. Dropping the ear of corn she had just picked, she fell to her knees and rolled onto her side, crying out loudly as the pain continued to wrack her small body.

Rushing over, Arum and several of the other younger girls she was friends with, knelt down beside her, stroking her hair and cheeks pitifully as she continued to scream in agony.

'Get – argh – Ferae!' she hissed through her teeth, tears forming in her eyes and her breath becoming shallow as the pain and panic rushed through her, asphyxiating her.

A few of the girls scrambled to their feet and sprinted off, crying out to the other women in the crop-field, who quickly came running. Soon Vinca was surrounded by a crowd of women, and was not only feeling short of breath and in agony, but also claustrophobic. She was almost ready to faint when she heard the shuffling footsteps of Ferae and she began to cry with gratefulness.

Pushing Arum away to make room for the elderly woman, she grasped one of Ferae's wizened hands fearfully. 'The baby, it is coming.'

'I know child, I know,' replied Ferae, quickly stripping off the warm woollen cloak she always wore and after telling the women to lift Vinca up slightly, slid it underneath her slight, swollen body.

Frowning, she noted that along with the normal fluids of birth, gushes of scarlet blood soaked her cloak through within seconds of it being laid down.

'B-but it is too early,' whispered Arum, frightened, 'it has not been enough moons yet.'

'Hush child,' Ferae said quickly, silencing her as she noted the flash of panic that darted across Vinca's delicate features, 'it is enough time.'

Vinca began to choke as the tears caught in the base of her throat and her claustrophobia began to cloud all else but the pain. Hurriedly shooing away most of the women, Ferae knelt beside her head.

'Breathe Vinca, you must breathe.'

Gagging, Vinca shook her head violently before her lower body began to bear down without her knowledge, trying to reject its new life. Grabbing the girl's head, Ferae forced her to lie completely flat, opening her throat for her, and then watched as she began to strain, attempting to give birth.

'Push Vinca, push!' Arum cried, clasping her friend's hand tightly.

Screaming, Vinca bore down and a cry of relief from Ferae confirmed that the baby's head had appeared. Encouraged, she pushed again, but then as her concentration began to wander, she felt the bile rise in her throat as the memories of the pirate raid began to wash over her.

_She tore through the forest, tears of panic flowing freely down her face as the pirate ran after her, his gold teeth flashing in the late afternoon sun. Her foot catching a tree-root, she fell flat, sprawled across the forest floor. Scrambling to her feet, she made to run again, but his footsteps drew nearer and nearer…_

Sensing the change in dynamics, Ferae looked up quickly to see Vinca's face contort not with pain but with horror, but was distracted when Vinca's body have one weak push of its own, expelling the baby's shoulders and torso.

_Cackling gleefully, the pirate leered down at her, his large booted foot leaning heavily upon her rib-cage and bearing down, keeping her pinned to the ground as he traced the base of her throat with his sword…_

'Ferae, something is wrong.' Arum said suddenly and the elderly woman looked up to see Vinca's eyes go oddly blank.

_He laughed heartily as she sobbed hysterically, pulling her tunic back down over the lower half of her, her entire body aching with bruises and scratches. Blowing her a kiss, he ran off, leaving her to cry her heart out into the moss, wishing she could just die… just fade away…_

'She has given up.' she whispered quietly, instructing one of the other women to hold the baby and moved swiftly up to Vinca's face, which she slapped lightly, 'Do not give up Vinca.'

_And even as she drifted off into unconsciousness, she could hear the yells of Arum and her friends as they searched the forest for her… and she didn't want them to find her, to see her like this… all she wanted was to disappear… and she did…_

But even as the baby began to howl for the first time, its cries met with joyful sighs of relief from the women around, Vinca's facial expression moved from panic to peace. Ferae watched in horror as the baby's feet slid from the girl's womb and the body from whence it came suddenly flopped; limp.

Watching Ferae frantically for signs of what was happening, Arum cried out as she realised that her friend had just died.

'Vinca! Vinca, no!'

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Glaring at the child in her arms, Arum scowled at her father.

'I cannot even look at it, father.'

The Chieftain sighed.  
'I know it is hard Arum, but it is only a child – it cannot help what it is.'

'It is because of this, this _thing_ that Vinca died… father I cannot look after the cause of her death, I _cannot_.'

'Arum, I –'

'No! I _will not_! Take it back to the pirate clan from where it came! Let it live out its life with the scum that it is.'

'It is half of us, Arum!'

'Look at it father, look at it! That is no warrior or Indian brave – that is a _pirate_.'

'Then do with it what you will, if you find it so repulsive, but know that it is on _your_ conscience, my daughter.'

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

'Persephone!'

Stirring from her alcohol-induced slumber, Persephone blearily opened her eyes, blinking away the residue make-up with a hiss of pain. Removing the arm of her latest customer from around her waist, she pulled the ridiculously low neck-line of her dress back up over her chest and pursed her lips in annoyance.

'What is it?'

'Come and see.' hissed the voice again, and Persephone blearily made out the form of her friend and fellow prostitute Scarlet.

'This had better be good.' she muttered, sliding her feet back into her boots and clumping out of the room behind Scarlet.

Together they tip-toed and clumped respectively through the inn to the front entrance, whereupon Persephone gasped audibly. 'Is that- is that a babe?'

'And an Injun one at that,' remarked Scarlet satisfactorily, crouching down beside the sleeping baby, its tiny form curled up inside a grass-woven basket and tucked up in a woollen rug.

'Where did it come from?' Persephone asked, crouching down beside her friend and peering down at the tiny creature, 'Is it one of the girls'?'

'No,' her friend replied, reaching out and stroking one of the baby's tiny cheeks with a pointed nail, 'Liana said she saw an Injun come up and leave it there when she was cleanin' up the mess Skylights made earlier… what're we goin' to do with it?'

'It's a dear little thing,' Persephone remarked, smiling slightly, 'but we can't keep it…'

'It's not like we can just take it back to the Injuns though, can we?' Scarlet reasoned, looking at her friend admonishingly, 'and 'sides us and them there's no other women on this island, is there?'

Sighing, Persephone shook her head.  
'Hook'll claw me from nose to tummy button if he finds out.'

'How is he to know?' Scarlet replied, sounding excited, 'we'll just tell him it's Sonny Chen's from the _Chrysanthemum; _he was here a few months back when he was at port.'

Persephone laughed as she leant down to stroke the baby's surprisingly large head of dark fluffs of hair. 'You're too sly for your own good Scarlet Smith… and what d'you suppose we're to name it?'

'Look at its wild black hair, I just want to ruffle it,' said Scarlet with a large smile; picking the basket up and cradling it to her ample chest, 'I'll call 'im Rufio.'

'Welcome to port, Cap'n Rufio.' Persephone said with a snort, rolling her eyes and closing the door to the inn, following a cooing Scarlet up the stairs.

* * *

_A/N: lyrics - "Trainwreck" by Sarah McLachlan._

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything.. really. so don't sue._

Hey there!  
Okay, so this is my first Peter Pan fanfiction.. something I've been meaning to write for a while, considering my love of all things to do with Peter Pan and pirates, but hey, it only took my watching of "HOOK" for the fiftieth time to get me moving, lol.

I know it's a little heavy, what with all the angst and everything, but it _does_ get a lot lighter, I promise... Its just that Rufio is such a complex character and I've always seen him as someone with a lot of anger and frustration, so when i sat down to think about how to write his lifestory basically, I decided he needed to have had a pretty crappy childhood/upbringing.

your thoughts, are as always, appreciated.  
Thanks for reading,  
Ash x


End file.
